December 2017 - El Capitan not available in the App Store??

Question

TomDane Author

Level 1

8 points

December 2017 - El Capitan not available in the App Store??

I am trying to reinstall an old Macbook Pro from 2009.

Highest os is El Capitan.

I already cleaned the disk, so nothing is on the machine now.

My plan was to create a USB (since going through re-install by holding down cmd-r when booting etc, is not working).

But I cannot find El Capitan anywhere?

The articles here on Apple support points to App Store - and when I get there, a dialog box pops up saying the it is not available??

What do I do?

iPhone 4, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Dec 21, 2017 12:22 AM

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Answer 1

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,620 points

Dec 24, 2017 2:27 AM in response to TomDane

Sign in to the App Store using the Apple ID you used to download El Capitan before.

I said you need to go to the Purchased page of the App Store then click on Download.

I am booted to High Sierra, I can open the App Store go to the Purchased section scroll down to Mac OS X El Capitan click the Download button, you will then get this message,

now click Continue and the download should start.

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Answer 2

TomDane Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 24, 2017 3:21 AM in response to Eau Rouge

I am logged in with the only AppleID I have ever had.

I go to the Purchased page and locate El Capitan. Click on 'Download' and get this page

(It is in danish):

The box says: "We cannot complete your purchase. This version of OS X 10.11 cannot be installed on the computer".

I have tried switching to the american store - but that is not allowed.

I am really stuck here:-(

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Answer 3

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,620 points

Dec 24, 2017 3:53 AM in response to TomDane

Not knowing Danish what does it say next to OS X El Capitan in the list, on my mac it says Download, on your mac does it say install. If it says Install then the App Store is detecting that a version of the Install OS X El Capitan.app is already on your mac somewhere, perhaps on a connected disc or elsewhere. Do a Spotlight search, enter Install OS X El Capitan.app in the search field. This is the results I get on my mac. I have three copies of it for safe keeping.

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Answer 4

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,620 points

Dec 21, 2017 4:11 AM in response to TomDane

Have you ever downloaded El Capitan before using your Apple ID, if so El Capitan should be available in your Purchased section of the App Store.

What was the last OS you had on your mac before you erased the drive.

Did you ever buy a retail copy of Snow Leopard?

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Answer 5

TomDane Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 24, 2017 2:06 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks for taking the time to help!!

Yes, I have downloaded El Capitan before.

I can see it in App Store, but when I click on 'get' I just says something like "Your purchase cannot be completed. The OS cannot be installed on the computer"??

Please note:

The MacBook is empty (because I tried to do the 1) erase disk and 2) install from network )

So I am on my new fine iMac 5K running High Sierra.

The plan was to create a boot USB with El Capitan and install from that.

The latest OS that was on the MacBook was El Capitan 10.11.6

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Answer 6

TomDane Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 25, 2017 12:10 AM in response to Eric Root

Same problem.

But the original problem - installing El Capitan on the old MacBook - is solved.

I tried again (for the like 10th time), but this time I booted with Shift-Option-Command-R keys.

And now it installs!?!

That problem is solved.

I still cannot make a bootable USB with El Capitan from my new iMac?

I think something is fishy here.

Anyways - since my MacBook is running again and ready to be handed over to the next person (daughter) I don't think I will spend more time on making the USB now.

Thank you so much for your effort.

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